1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a personal recovery system. More particularly, the invention relates to a recovery system that provides automatic warnings at predetermined times.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One of the most difficult jobs any of us may face is responsibility for the well being of another person. Whether the responsibility is that of a parent for his or her child, or a child for his or her elderly parent, responsibility for another person is taken very seriously. This responsibility must, however, be balanced with the independence of the custodial person and the impossible task of always monitoring the whereabouts and status of the child or elderly parent.
Our society has recently found itself facing the rapid escalation in occurrences of human predators preying, typically, on the weak (for example, elderly persons, women, and children). These victims, often faced with abduction intent, are defenseless against more powerful aggressors. If no method of alerting others is available, the outcome can be horrible and often the final incident in their lives. In the end, our society must rely on crude search strategies (that is, police sketches, dogs, lines of people with flashlights) and luck to find the victims. Increasingly, these incidents are occurring in broad daylight in school yards, grocery store parking lots and bus stops. There appears to be no real safe haven anymore.
When children become responsible for their elderly parents, the balance of independence and monitoring becomes difficult, and limited options are available. The elderly parent may move in with the children, however, this is very often not desirable from both the child and the parents' point of view. In the alternative, the elderly parent may move into a retirement home, where support is provided for the parent, or the elderly parent may continue living on his or her own with no ready means of support.
Regardless of the choice, continuously monitoring the whereabouts and medical status of the parent is oftentimes impossible. While a conscious parent may call in the event of an emergency, an unconscious, or otherwise incapable, parent is unable to notify anyone of the emergency assistance he or she may require.
Various monitors are known in the art. However, these monitors fail to fully meet the needs addressed above. In most instances these monitors require the user of the monitor to activate the monitor to transmit a warning signal. Monitors such as these become useless for an abducted child or an unconscious elderly parent.
Other monitors continuously and regularly emit a signal. The continuous and regular transmission of a signal may provide the location of the user, but it fails to provide a status indication of the user.
For example, a monitor worn by an unconscious parent will tell the child that the parent is at home, but the monitor will not tell the child that the parent is unconscious. In addition, these monitors will not tell a child that the parent has fallen, broken some bones and cannot move due to extreme pain. In this case, with the onset of shock, the time it takes for help to be alerted is critical. Similarly, a monitor worn by a child may tell the parent that the child is around the house or on her way home from school, but the monitor will not tell the parent that the child is not in trouble.
As such, a need exists for a personal recovery system which allows a guardian to monitor both the location and the status of an individual, particularly if that individual is mobile. The present invention provides such a system. In addition, there are many other situations in which a user might employ the present system, such as when a user is hiking, boating or otherwise unable to make their status known.